It is the decision to make before you tape anything shut, and it usually goes wrong for the same reason: people compare the price and not what each one solves.
The table, in short
| By sea | By air |
| How long | Roughly 8 to 10 weeks | Days |
| How much | From €4.50/kg, published | Considerably more per kilo |
| What it is for | Big boxes in no hurry: clothes, household goods, a trousseau | Urgent and light: papers, a present that has to arrive in time |
And the fact worth stating before going on: to Pakistan we currently run the sea corridor only. We do fly to other destinations — documents and luggage — so if yours is urgent, write to us and we will tell you whether we can help another way. We would rather do that than sell you a transit time we do not have.
Why the ship takes as long as it does
Eight to ten weeks sounds like a lot until you see where it comes from. Your box waits in the Barcelona warehouse for the shipment to be completed, travels grouped with the rest in a container, crosses, arrives at port, clears customs and goes out for delivery.
During the crossing it is normal to go days without new updates in tracking. It is not lost: while the vessel is sailing there is nothing to scan. It is the part of the process that generates the most calls and hides the fewest problems.
Three cases, so you get it right
A wedding trousseau
Four or five boxes of clothes, fabrics, crockery and gifts. Heavy, enormously bulky, and the date is known months in advance.
Sea, without hesitation. This is the case the corridor exists for: 100 kg comes to €450 and you have time to spare. By air, that same volume goes through the roof. The only real requirement is remembering to start two or three months ahead.
Seasonal clothes
The winter box you send in summer, or the other way round. Blankets, coats, jumpers: lots of bulk, little weight.
Sea, with margin. The classic mistake here is sending it once it is already cold. If the box leaves in August it arrives for winter; if it leaves in November it arrives for the following spring. The transit time is not a problem if you plan for it.
The gift that arrives late
A birthday in three weeks, a document needed now.
Here the ship does not work for you, and we will say so. Eight weeks do not fit into three. We do not run air to Pakistan today, so in this case the honest thing is to tell you rather than put you on a corridor that does not solve your problem. Write to us anyway: sometimes there is an option you had not considered.
The one-line rule
If what you are sending takes up room and can wait, sea. If it is urgent and light, air — and to Pakistan, today, that means looking for another route.
What makes no sense is paying air prices for a box of blankets, or finding out in December that the coat arrives in March.